Geometric Abstraction In Mind
Warning: Tom Yezza's abstract graphics may cause dizziness.
Stare them down for more than a few seconds, and the images appear to breathe, detach from the canvas and pulsate on the walls of The Heldrich's second-floor Public Gallery in New Brunswick.
Most of the 31 works on display at the hotel and conference center radiate from a circular core, forming a nexus of diamond shapes that resemble dense mosaic tile patterns or Aztec rugs gone wild; other designs, particularly those in black and white, are steeped in swirling Op-art aesthetics. Not surprisingly, Yezza cites Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher as a seminal influence.
Yezza, a 63-year-old retired data processor from North Jersey, applies the patterns to paper using pen, pencil and paint, scans them and then has the designs printed onto canvas.
"It's very tedious," Yezza admits. He says it's all a matter of "balance. Balance."
It's also a matter of exactitude and relentless ordering.
"See these ceiling tiles?" Yezza says. "I would count them. My mind was always with numbers and mathematics and geometry. I liked it more than I liked school. I didn't like that teacher having power over me."
In Yezza's mind, the numbers hold sway. Yezza retired from data-processing in 1987 and did not plunge into the art world until seven years later, but his former career clearly influences his current passion. He also writes poetry, which he posts on his Web site, www.geometricgraphics.com.
"It's geometry, geometric abstraction," Yezza says, referring to the title of the show, which displays images created during a 10-year span, from 1994 to 2004. "In data processing, there are two numbers: zero and one. There was some kind of rhythm to it, and you could find it." That rhythm — and the reliability of numbers — seems to appeal to a man who has spent his life arranging information.
Nonetheless, Yezza claims he does not map out his designs: "I let it happen," he says. " . . . Just like words come together, so do lines."
Laurie Granieri:
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